Mr. Augustine Kwesi Asubonteng, Managing Director of WAOPP Oil Mills, who has filed a suit at a Takoradi Court against the Attorney General (AG) and Ministry of Trade, Industry and PSI, demanding ¢1.5 billion in damages, explained in court on Thursday, why he took the Trade Ministry and the Minister, Alan Kyeremanteng to court. Before submitting his reason for dragging the Minister to court, it became clear that Mr. S.E. Akuffo, a State Attorney from the Attorney General's department in Sekondi, who is representing the Ministry of Trade in the case, had failed to appear in court. Mr. Akuffo did not also give prior notice to the court why he absented himself. The presiding judge, Justice Ofosu Quartey, however decided to go ahead with the case since in his opinion, counsel did not show any courtesy towards him. "They should have told me why they were not in court, that is courtesy, I am going ahead", he said and awarded a two million cedis cost in favour of the plaintiff. Mr. Asubonteng then proceeded to tell the packed court that he decided to drag the two, (the AG, and the Minister) to Court because he had exhausted all diplomatic and peaceful avenues to collect his money due him from the Trade Ministry. "My Lord, I used all avenues to collect my money due me peacefully but all fell on the rocks," he submitted. According to him, the Trade Ministry contracted him to mechanically clear a parcel of land for the planting of oil palm seedlings and gave him an amount of ¢320 million to that effect. The piece of land he cleared mechanically was about 151.04 hectares and the Oil Palm Research Institute (OPRI) had also confirmed this in its report to the PSI Secretariat. He continued that he wrote to the PSI Secretariat demanding the money for the land he had cleared but there was no response. He said the amount involved for clearing the land was about ¢157,506,283. Mr. Asubonteng told the Court that as a result of the failure by the PSI Secretariat to pay the said money due him, he went to the then sector Minister, Hon. Kwamena Bartels and the current Sector Minister, Mr. Kyeremanten who told him that Cabinet had approved the payment of the money. He was therefore directed to the PSI Secretariat to collect his money. Plaintiff went on to tell the Court that he later realized that the PSI Secretariat was dilly-dallying with the payment, so he wrote to the Attorney General's Department through his counsel on two occasions but there was no response hence his action against the defendants. The two institutions in their defence, had denied that they contracted the plaintiff to mechanically clear the said land on behalf of the ministry. Counsel for plaintiff, Mr. E. K. Amuah Sekyi, however, tendered in what he said was a contractual document and other documents relating to the contract between the WAOPP and the Ministry as evidence to the Court. The case has been adjourned to July 12 for cross-examination. Source: The Chronicle